A Town Straight Out of An Edo-period Drama
The past still lives on in Wakimachi, where historic buildings are preserved and open to the public. The nostalgic, tranquil atmosphere wrought by the stately white-walled buildings featuring udatsu, short pillars set on beams, transforms when the sun sets and square lanterns lining the streets light up, their warm and gentle glow transporting you to an entirely different world from the daytime. With guides available to give in-depth explanations of the history Wakimachi and Aigura, which houses shops that sell indigo products and other souvenirs as well as a café area, there’s plenty here to entertain visitors.
The town of Wakimachi is located on a calm, flat stretch of the Yoshino River which flows into the sea at Tokushima. This commercially advantageous siting contributed to the prosperity which the town enjoyed in the Edo and Meiji periods, when Wakimachi was a centre for indigo dyeing – aizome in Japanese.
The merchants of Wakimachi grew extremely wealthy from providing the plain blue colouring used for the daily clothing of the common samurai. The merchants flaunted their wealth by building elaborate commercial premises and homes which still exist today, marked by an architectural extravagance called udatsu. Original a kind of firebreak, the udatsu became an elaborate symbol of wealth and power, decorated with fancy tiles and plasterwork.
The town of Wakimachi is located on a calm, flat stretch of the Yoshino River which flows into the sea at Tokushima. This commercially advantageous siting contributed to the prosperity which the town enjoyed in the Edo and Meiji periods, when Wakimachi was a centre for indigo dyeing – aizome in Japanese.
The merchants of Wakimachi grew extremely wealthy from providing the plain blue colouring used for the daily clothing of the common samurai. The merchants flaunted their wealth by building elaborate commercial premises and homes which still exist today, marked by an architectural extravagance called udatsu. Original a kind of firebreak, the udatsu became an elaborate symbol of wealth and power, decorated with fancy tiles and plasterwork.
